This post is the work of the Rev. Lexie Chamberlain, based on an event she created for the Sunday School and congregation she served for many years in Oakville, St. Paul’s United Church.
When our children were younger, they loved scavenger hunts. Some were designed with clues they had to solve, which gave them directions to the next clue, and the clues would ultimately lead to a reward at the end. Others required them to hunt for, and gather special items.
One storm day, when school was cancelled because of a layer of ice, I created a scavenger hunt for which I gave the children my phone and they were tasked with taking photos of items of interest in the neighbourhood. (e.g. swing set, dog, nearest stop sign).
I thought it might be interesting to offer a scavenger hunt based on the events of Holy Week. You might work with one story each day from Palm Sunday until Easter, or you could do all the stories in one day, perhaps as your Good Friday devotion time.
Palm Sunday 
There is a version of the Palm Sunday in each of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) but they are not all the same. If you asked four people to write a story about an event, each person would have their own style and approach.
One interesting example is that in Luke’s gospel, there is no mention of Palms. Instead, people took off their cloaks and lay them on the path ahead of Jesus. You might want to read the story in all four gospels. You can find them here:
If you are doing this with children, don’t read all four gospels to them! (that would be a little much and since this is the first lesson you want to keep their interest!) I suggest you stick with Matthew’s story. If your children enjoy reading and you have a children’s Bible at home, you could perhaps read the story of Palm Sunday there. If you do not have a children’s Bible, then here is a link to The International Children’s Bible which is found on BibleGateway.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+21%3A1-11&version=ICB
Today’s “Scavenger Hunt” Challenges:
Young Children: Set up a parade picture with Lego, Little People, or some other toys. See if you have a donkey, if not improvise! You could also colour or cut out palm branches to be place in the picture.
Older children and adults: pose or create a picture representing humbleness, kindness.
(Here is the video Rev. Lexie and Rev. Darrow made last year)
Monday: Jesus in the Temple
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke (which if you want to impress people, you could call them the Synoptic Gospels) the Palm Sunday story is followed by the account of Jesus going to the temple and “shaking things up”. This story offers a glimpse as to why some people found Jesus challenging. We often think of Jesus as being calm and gentle but this story shows that Jesus had a whole range of emotions, and sometimes he may have gotten frustrated.
In this story, you will hear the word temple. The temple was where the Jewish people went to worship but it was also a center of all kinds of activities. During Jesus earthly life, people thought they needed to offer animal sacrifices to God because their prayers would go up to God with the smoke from the sacrifice. It may sound silly to us now, but that was part of their tradition from a long time ago. People would travel long distances to get to the temple, and when they arrived they would have to buy animals to make their sacrificial prayers. It was acceptable to buy and sell animals in the temple. Jesus objected to people taking advantage of others. You had to have Jewish shekels to purchase animals at the temple, and the money-changers charge high rates of exchange for the Roman coins most people carried. They were money gouging! If you are reading this story to children, I would suggest reading it from Matthew’s gospel. You can find the story here:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+21%3A12-15&version=ICB
Today’s “Scavenger Hunt” Challenge:
Take a photo of someplace you collect coins in your house. i.e. drawer, piggy bank; jar.
Tuesday: Preparing the Passover Meal
Jesus was a Jewish person who grew up with the traditions and customs of his culture. Each year, Jewish people would celebrate the Passover. Families and friends would come together for a special meal and remember the story of how God had helped their ancestors a long time ago. The story of Jesus celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples is found in all four gospels. You can find the story in these places
Today we are only going to focus on a part of the story. Today, our focus scripture will be Luke 22:7-13. Here is a link to that story:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22%3A7-13&version=ICB
Today’s “Scavenger Hunt” Challenge:
Take a photo of a dinner table set for either a meal or for tea.
Wednesday: The Last Supper
We are going to continue the story of the Passover meal, which is the basis of our Christian tradition of communion. As Jesus was eating with his disciples he took bread and wine and shared it with them. In most of the gospels the story says that Jesus spoke of how the bread represents his body and the wine represents his blood. When we share in communion we use bread and wine as symbols to remember God’s love for us. God’s love nourishes our souls; God’s love helps to quench the deep thirst for love and meaning within our lives.
Today, we will read about the last supper here: Luke 22:14-20.
Today’s “Scavenger Hunt” Challenge:
Take a photo of bread and juice/wine.
Thursday: Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday is a special day set aside to remember the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet. This story only happens in the gospel of John. The way John tells the story, Jesus was having his least meal with his disciples when he decided to wash their feet. Read the story as found at this link: John 13:4-17.
A little later in John’s gospel, Jesus gave his friends instructions of what they are supposed to do. Some people might say that this is the Christian Mandate. Mandate means command, or rule to follow. The word Maundy, for Maundy Thursday, comes from the same Latin word. The Mandate Jesus gave his disciples is this:
“I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.” (John 13: 34-35)
Today’s “Scavenger Hunt” Challenges:
Younger children: Take a photo of washing your feet or washing someone else’s feet
Older children/adults: Take a photo to represent “Love one another”.
Good Friday
This is a difficult day because the story of Good Friday is a sad story. It is the story of Jesus dying. Many people have asked why this day is called “Good” when it is actually a challenging day. Some people will answer that question by saying that “the good” represents God. Some people might even think that it was God’s plan for Jesus death to happen, but I don’t read the story that way. The good that I can see in the story for today is that Jesus was willing to be a good follower of God’s way, even when the world was being mean. I don’t think it was God’s plan for people to be mean to Jesus. I don’t think God wanted people to hurt Jesus so badly that he died. I think that God is love and that God wants us to show love to others. Jesus didn’t lash out and hurt others when they were being mean to him. Jesus didn’t say mean things when others were being rude. Jesus continued to be faithful to God. He continued to show love. Jesus faced challenges with dignity.
This is a hard story to read and it is a long story. The story of Jesus death is found in all four gospels. All of the stories are long and I think they would be very disturbing for young children. Before you read the story to a child make sure you read it yourself and decide if it is something you want to read with your child. If you are comfortable, I would suggest reading from Mark’s gospel. It is a shorter version. You can find it here:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+15%3A6-47&version=ICB
If you find the story too difficult to read to your child then I might suggest you talk to your child about this story. I have also written a “child-friendly” version:
Jesus was a teacher who taught people about God’s ways of love and justice. He taught that all people were loved by God. Rich people, poor people, sick people, healthy people, old people, young people, everyone is a wonderful child of God and loved by God. Jesus also taught that we are to help one another. Jesus was always going around helping people and he taught his followers that we were to do the same. This sometimes challenged the leaders of his time because they liked to keep their own power and their own wealth. Jesus teachings were so radical, that some people thought it would be better if they silenced him.
Jesus knew he was challenging some people but he would not stop talking about God’s love. After he had had the special supper with his friends, Jesus went to a garden to pray. While he was praying, some soldiers came and arrested Jesus. They took him to the place where the Roman governor Pilate lived. People saw Jesus being taken to Pilates place, and they started to yell at Jesus. Some people were so mean, they called out “kill him”.
Pilate spoke to Jesus and Pilate couldn’t understand why the people were so upset. He went out to the crowds of people who had gathered and said, “I don’t see anything wrong with this person. He has done no wrong.” The crowds would not listen. They wanted Jesus silenced. They were loud, and mean and Pilate listened to them instead of going with his own judgement. Pilate decided to please the crowds so he told some soldier to take Jesus out to a hill and to crucify him.
The soldiers took Jesus and hurt his body. They placed a crown of thorns on his head, they hurt his hands, his feet and they put him on a cross. Jesus was so badly hurt that he died.
After he had died, some of Jesus friends took his body off the cross and they put it in a cave. Sometimes we say the cave was a tomb. They put a great big rock in front of the entrance to the cave. Jesus friends were very sad, and they were very scared. It was a very awful day.
Today’s “Scavenger Hunt” Challenges:
Take photos of brokenness and sadness. If this is too difficult for younger children you might ask them to draw a picture of what makes them sad.
Thank you for doing this Holy Week Scavenger Hunt with your family. Please take time to post your photos on Facebook, or send them to me at: revdww@gmail.com
Darrow Woods: Writer of Things 
Awesome!!! THANK YOU REV. LEXIE!!!
Like how all the activities can be done indoors. Very helpful for places under lockdown!